Author's Note: After much procrastinating and prompting from the TAGfam on Tumblr, I'm re-introducing my OC, Jade - rehashed for the TAG universe!
There are also mentions of other OCs - Selene Tempest belongs to WillowDragonCat, Ruth and Clare Tracy belong to Godsliltippy. Thank you for lending me your OCs!
This fic was based on the prompt "The answer is no, absolutely one hundred percent no!" sent to my Tumblr Ask box by Godsliltippy.
I promised myself that I would write more - and I set myself a deadline to get this up before my birthday (which is tomorrow) so huzzah! Challenge completed!
I really hope you like it and will welcome Jade with open arms~
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Thunderbirds Are Go - they belong to the late Gerry and Silvia Anderson
"Unbelievable!"
Grey-blue eyes glanced up inquisitively at the muffled shout of exasperation.
"What were you thinking?! No wait, let me guess… You weren't?"
The raised voice was growing louder.
Closer.
An inevitable storm.
Setting aside his reading glasses, Jeff Tracy leaned back in his chair. Momentarily ignoring the stack of Tracy Industries papers in front of him, he placed his pen down on his desk with a small sigh.
The words and the raised tone of voice.
The atmosphere and emotions that emanated along with it.
Whilst not entirely exact, the scenario still seemed almost all too familiar to the ex-astronaut. Bittersweet. Reminiscent of events that at first, seemed not all that long ago, but in reality, had actually passed a couple of decades ago.
A few feet away from his desk - in the sunken level of the den - Gordon and Alan exchanged questioning glances.
"I was going to put her back when I was done!"
"You shouldn't be taking her out in the first place! Especially not on your own!"
"Uncle Gordon told me I could! He said it would be fine!"
An uncomfortable pause.
In the brief silence that followed, Jeff and Alan both cast looks towards the aquanaut, and Gordon visibly squirmed.
"You're gonna be in so much trouble when he gets his hands on you." Alan grimaced.
Gordon responded with a nervous laugh, running a hand through the back of his hair as he stood abruptly. "You know what? I totally forgot to check out those new intakes that Brains installed on Thunderbird Four. I'll catch you guys later!"
With that, Gordon bolted from the den.
The echoes of the retreating aquanaut's feet were barely audible as the hidden panel to the lounge began to rotate around.
Neither Jeff nor his youngest son uttered a word.
Alan's baby blues darted momentarily to his father. It was definitely one of the downsides of living on a private island in the middle of nowhere: Disagreements and their subsequent altercations were particularly hard to avoid.
Especially when a certain Scott Tracy was involved.
Jeff remained slightly reclined in his chair. His expression still nonchalant as he calmly reached over for some report files to read through. This was certainly not the first time that he had witnessed similar scenes unfold within the villa. In fact, as a father of five sons, Jeff liked to think that he had more than enough experience and understanding on the subject of family squabbles.
Especially between parent and child.
Experience over time suggested that no involvement was required.
At least, not for now.
Part of Jeff hoped that it would remain that way.
The silence was broken by the Tracy patriarch's eldest son as he appeared from the concealed lift to Thunderbird One's hangar. He was followed closely by a much shorter, younger and more feminine figure with shoulder-length dark hair.
There was a definite storm in Scott's crystalline blue eyes.
And there were only a handful of people on the island who could rile him up that much within a short amount of time.
One of them was Jade; who almost walked into Scott as the latter abruptly stopped in his tracks and rounded on her.
"You know, I don't think you realise just how much trouble you are in right now…"
"Why is this such a big issue?" Blue-green eyes glared back, their intensity almost matching International Rescue's Field Commander. "Just the other week, you said you were confident in my ability to pilot!"
"That does not mean you can just take her for a… a… damn joyride!"
Alan cringed as the volume of his eldest brother's voice increased almost tenfold. Being the youngest of his siblings, he had his fair share of Scott's berating in the past and could totally sympathise with most of the people who were on the receiving end of it.
Still seated at his desk, Jeff remained impassive.
"Jeez, you make it sound like I'm trying to pull a Grand Theft Auto Thunderbird One. Don't be so dramatic…" Jade huffed, no longer meeting Scott's fiery gaze as she scuffed at the wooden floor with her black, mid-calf boot. Part of her knew she was in the wrong, but the other part was just too proud to admit it. Stubbornness did, after all, run in the family. "I said I was gonna put her back."
"That's completely irrelevant!" Scott growled.
"It's practice! You said practice makes perfect!"
"It's impulsive and irresponsible!"
Fiery, blue-green eyes shot up; locking with icy blues. "Well, clearly, those traits came from you, didn't they?"
The remark caught Scott off guard, and in those few seconds, the brunette pilot wondered if he had ever been this much of an inconvenience to his father back when he was an adolescent teenager. "This is not about me."
"Oh yeah? Tell me again why you came back from your last mission on board Thunderbird Two and with your arm in a sling because you didn't wait for back-up," despite being much younger and almost a foot shorter, Jade was still agitated enough to point an accusing finger in Scott's direction - particularly at the aforementioned arm that was currently nestled in a cast and sling over his shoulder. "Don't accuse me of being 'impulsive and irresponsible' when you can't even follow your own rules!"
"Enough!" Scott's voice was stern.
Authoritative.
No-nonsense.
An awkward silence fell.
Scott closed his eyes and took a deep breath, running his good hand through his hair and gathering his thoughts. "Thunderbird One is not a toy."
"I didn't say it wa-."
"Jade," those blue eyes snapped open again, sharp and commanding. "You've never flown solo before, and there are so many things that can go wrong with that ship. My ship. Do you understand?"
Still refusing to break her gaze from him, Jade let out a small huff as she folded her arms across her chest in an almost defensive manner. "But Uncle Gordon said-"
"Uncle Gordon probably didn't tell you about the time he decided to 'borrow' Thunderbird One and nearly crashed her into the ocean shortly after take-off, did he?"
Recalling that one incident, Alan attempted to stifle a snigger from where he was still seated on the leather sofa in the den.
He was unsuccessful.
This earned him a glare from his older brother.
It was clear that Scott was not fond of having these kinds of… issues in front of other family members.
"Sorry… Sorry…" Alan snorted as he waved a hand apologetically. "It's just… y'know… he came back smelling like death!"
"Not helping, Alan…" the words were growled through a clenched jaw and gritted teeth.
The blond astronaut reacted with a roll of his eyes before refocusing his attention back to the live broadcast of an off-road car race; projecting from the holo-screen in the middle of the den.
Meanwhile, Scott focused his attention back on Jade. "Look, I know you're keen to be more involved with International Rescue, but don't you think you're a little too young to be thinking about flying solo?"
Her answer was clear and concise. "No."
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"Uncle Alan said he started piloting Thunderbird Three when he was fifteen, right?" Jade shrugged. "I'm nineteen."
Scott frowned in response and a pang of hurt flashed ever so briefly across his eyes as he recalled a bitter memory that - no matter how hard he tried - could never be forgotten. "Well, there were… extenuating circumstances back then. One that no longer applies."
Clearly, Jade was not happy with his answer. "What about Ruth and Clare?"
"Your cousins have only ever operated Thunderbird Four with Gordon's assistance, and only for the more… manageable missions," Scott sighed before attempting a different tactic. "Wouldn't you be more interested in more flight time with Thunderbird Shadow? Her cockpit doubles up as a bike."
"Pass," Jade pulled a face. "Not nearly fast enough."
Upon hearing her statement, Alan - who was still half listening in - nearly spat out his drink.
Jeff glanced up momentarily from his open report file.
Scott gave a slightly humoured snort before he leaned closer to Jade, keeping his voice low. "Do not let your mother hear you say that."
"Oh please," Jade huffed. "I'm not that dumb."
"Good," Scott nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Because she'd have your hide. And then mine."
Jade stuck her tongue out. "You married her, Dad."
"Yeah, well, neither of us were prepared for how much of a pain in the ass you were going to be," Scott rolled his eyes. "Would you at least ask next time you want to try out your piloting skills? And by that, I mean ask me. Not anybody else. Especially not Uncle Gordon."
"What about Aunt Sel?"
A side-eyed glare was the only response to her question.
"But, what if-"
"The answer is no," the brunette was quick to stop any further suggestions. "Absolutely one hundred percent no!"
"Fine, fine," Jade waved a hand dismissively as she turned to leave. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
A firm hand on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks.
No half-hearted apology was going to cut it.
Not when it involved two things that were deemed extremely precious to him.
"I'm not finished."
"Aw, c'mon, Dad. I said I was sorry!"
"Like I said, I don't think you realise just how much trouble you are in right now," Scott's voice was stern. "You are so grounded. Just you wait until your mother gets back to the island and hears about this…"
"She'd only be mad that I got caught." Jade muttered under her breath.
Alan suppressed another chortle.
"Actually, you know what? I have a better idea…" releasing his grip from his daughter's shoulder, Scott opened a communications link.
"Well, that's a look of disdain if I've ever seen one," John's hologram materialised and immediately quirked an eyebrow. "Getting restless already?"
"Not quite," the brunette snorted. "How are things going up there? You're due a delivery of supplies today, right?"
The space monitor gave a small smile as he hummed and nodded his head in response. "I hear that Virgil has added some tasty treats into the inventory list."
"I hope you guys didn't forget my Pringles, Cherry Cola and my English chocolate!" a feminine voice chimed in over the comms.
Scott gave a small chuckle. "Yeah, that's all there, Sel. Don't sweat."
"Definitely not any other chocolate, right?" Selene Tempest's hologram soon joined her husband's; her dark, plum-coloured hair fluttering behind her as she floated in the zero gravity of Thunderbird Five. "And don't lie to me. I can taste the difference!"
"Would I lie to you?" Scott held his good arm up in a placating manner.
This time, it was Selene who raised her eyebrow - almost a mirror image of John's expression, but there was a definite dark glint in her eyes. "I'm holding you to that, Scooter. You and you personally."
"Anyway," John cleared his throat, deciding to put a stop to the conversation before his wife went on another rampage about the varying tastes and complexities of chocolate. "I take it that this isn't just a casual call to chat about supplies?"
Ah, John Tracy - ever the communications expert.
"Kind of," Scott replied. "There's going to be a little something extra in your shipment. Well, someone."
"Wait… what?!"
John cringed at the sudden outburst from his niece. Next to him, Selene just let out a small sigh.
International Rescue's Field Commander was one of the two people who did not flinch at the teen's raised voice. The other person was Jeff - the Tracy patriarch glancing up for a brief moment before going back to the report files. Whilst he could sympathise with his eldest son, he had already experienced more than just his fair share of adolescent issues.
Sometimes, things really did come full circle.
Scott's expression remained deadpan as he turned his attention towards his daughter. "Pack a bag. You're going to spend the next week up on Thunderbird Five with Uncle John, Aunt Sel and EOS."
"You're kidding, right?" Jade frowned.
Her answer came in the form of a stern, no-nonsense glare.
She held her father's gaze for a moment before she abruptly turned on her heel and stormed off. "Fine! Whatever!"
An awkward silence fell across the lounge.
"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh?" John was the first to speak. "What did she do this time?"
"Got caught trying to take Thunderbird One out for a spin," Alan casually explained; not averting his eyes from the action on the holo-screen. "Without permission from her primary pilot."
Matching grimaces crossed both John and Selene's faces at the blond astronaut's words. Anybody that had dealings with International Rescue knew that messing around with a Thunderbird without their primary operator's permission was asking for trouble - which was quite an understatement.
"Seems a little out of the ordinary for her to do that…" Selene pondered aloud.
"Well, from what I gathered, it sounded like she may have been given a little nudge."
Everyone turned to face Jeff.
Calmly closing his report file and setting it to one side, Jeff rested his forearms on the sturdy wood of his desk; weathered, calloused fingers interlacing with each other. Grey-blue eyes - wisened by both age and experience - shifted calmly to meet the stormy tundra of his eldest.
Jeff's voice was calm as he spoke. "You probably want to have a word with Gordon as well. Just to find out exactly what happened."
"You think I was being too harsh?" Scott's posture was rigid and for a moment, Jeff was unsure if his son was being defensive in regards to his parenting, frustrated over the situation, or if his current dose of painkillers were starting to wear off.
"I'm not here to make a judgement call," Jeff explained. "I'm just saying make sure you have a clear understanding on how everything came to this."
Scott gave a small nod. "Oh, don't worry. As soon as I track down that slippery Squid, there will be words."
"So, uhm… are you really sending her up here for a week?" John enquired. "And also, why here?"
The answer was simple. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to ground her here? At least up in Five, she can't exactly escape being grounded…"
"Spaced." Selene stated.
Scott blinked and tilted his head. "Pardon?"
"It's what you call grounding in space, right?" Selene explained. "You get spaced."
Beside her, John simply shook his head with a groan.
Ignoring her husband, Selene beamed a happy smile. "Well, don't you worry. We'll keep her in check for the week!"
The brunette gave a grateful nod. "Thanks."
"You owe me." John stated dryly before ending the transmission.
Still not diverting his attention from the race on holo-screen, Alan gave a yawn and a stretch, making no attempt to move from his comfortable position on the leather sofa. "Y'know, it's times like this where I'm super glad that I don't have kids."
The blonde's comment earned him a scowl from his eldest brother; the latter settling himself down on the adjacent sofa with a heavy sigh.
"I don't know where she gets it from," Scott frowned, leaning his head back. "Kayo swears she was never that brash when she was growing up, and I don't recall being that bad either."
From his desk, Jeff made a slightly choked, spluttering noise.
"Aw, c'mon," Scott huffed, sitting up straighter and turning to face his father. "I was not that bad!"
A wry smile played across Jeff's worn features. "It's like John said: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
This time, Alan did spit out his drink.